RBM_HD *just* stopped charging, Cell C not honouring warranty

[SuperNev]

Hi everyone

I haven't had my phone for 6 weeks now, stopped working, I took it in for repairs. They wanted to bill me R1600 for the repair, which I would pay as I did not insure the thing, but I didn't break my phone, it just stopped charging.
I've been trying to prove that it's a manufacturer defect, but I'm not winning. Full details below.

On the 16 October I woke up to realise that the RBM_HD that I got in early June had stopped charging. I had a low battery on the Saturday night, but decided to just charge it in the morning when I woke up. When I woke up the phone had turned off (expected), so I tried charging it. From both the PC and AC it wouldn't charge.

I turned it back on and did a quick backup on MyPhoneExplorer, then I took it in to the store where I got it. They took it and gave me a repair slip with tracking numbers.

On the 03 November I got an SMS stating "Dear 074***, your Huawei RBM U8800H requires specialized spares which have been ordered from the manufacturer." . Then another message asking me to contact Cell C, wherein they informed me that it would cost me R1600 to repair my phone.

I would not have a problem paying it, but I didn't know what exactly had happened. A week later after I had spent almost an hour collectively on the phone with the repairs centre they told me that my mainboard wasn't working, and that this is why it'll cost that much.
My problem is that initially my phone just stopped charging, it was working; because if it wasn't I wouldn't have been able to switch it on and back up my data.

I went to the store manager from where I bought it, and 3 weeks after contacting him he still tells me that he is still awaiting a response from repairs centre. I event ended up trying to ask for a new phone because I'm still paying for my contract, and am not getting any good service.

Does anyone know what I can do? I just want Cell C to either honour their warranty, or prove without reasonable doubt that I broke my phone. I have a feeling that I'll still have no phone by Christmas.

Thanks

 

[Willie Trombone]

Nothing about lightning damage? Water damage? Have you asked them why they need to replace the mainboard? If it's just faulty without apparent surge and water damage, then you need to take it to court to have it sorted should they not fix it. Have you tried Hellopeter?

 

[sajunky]

It probably passed water damage check.
@SuperNew. It is possible that main board is faulty, as these days charging circuit is intergrated in the main processor chip. I am not talking about warranty issues, just technical explanation.

 

[Sl8er]

Sorry to hear about your trouble.
I have the Moto Defy. The other day I accidentally dropped the phone -from less that a meter. I picked it up and shoved it in my pocket, not thinking twice to check it (I mean it's "life proof" after all, right!). Later on, I checked my phone and saw multi-colored lines all across the screen. So I was just going to restart it and everything should be good. (The phone did that from day one, but a restart fixed it everytime. See, I thought it was a software glitch -since I used to have another phone that used to do that.) In any case, restarted and nothing. Lines still there. Took it back to the store and the Cell C people wouldn't even listen. Just a simple, "We don't cover physical damage," and "you WILL pay for it."
Ummm...you don't cover physical damage on a supposed "rugged, LIFE proof" phone?! Then why the hell did I choose it? Why did I take a medium range Android device when I could've taken a high end device? Because it's SUPPOSED to be "LIFE proof." Well yeah, apparently it's NOT life proof. I regret it now, I should've taken a different phone...and that means that I probably would've gone with a different service provider as well.
Anyway, it now seems that the phone was faulty from day 1 -with the mulit-colored lines and all - but of course they (RBM) don't care. In their minds I probably drop kicked the phone from the 68th floor and want a freebie now. They're not at all interested in replacing the screen (the lcd, not gorilla glass) nor replace the phone. And this on a less than 6 month old device. CPA or not, looks like we're still being screwed.
Anyways, I'm not here to go on about it, I just wanted to say that I, sort of, know how you feel and I hope that you have more success than I do. I know my wallet will be voting when this contract is done.
Good luck to you!

 

[Willie Trombone]

Some good feedback here people. Cell C + RBM = BEWARE. My contract is coming up soon and I had this as a potential option. Not anymore.

 

[Sl8er]

Some good feedback here people. Cell C + RBM = BEWARE. My contract is coming up soon and I had this as a potential option. Not anymore.

I would usually be the first in line to recommend this deal...but after what's gone down...I have a pretty hard time doing so. I guess it's still a good deal...as long as nothing happens to the device! Sigh. :erm: Got a quote from a guy...said it's going to cost R1600 to replace the screen. (Can someone say RIP-OFF!) I thanked him for the information, turned around and walked out.
So frustrating!

 

[SuperNev]

I would usually be the first in line to recommend this deal...but after what's gone down...I have a pretty hard time doing so. I guess it's still a good deal...as long as nothing happens to the device! Sigh. :erm: Got a quote from a guy...said it's going to cost R1600 to replace the screen. (Can someone say RIP-OFF!) I thanked him for the information, turned around and walked out.
So frustrating!

Thing is, the contrac is good value, and considering that they include mid-range Androids, it's okay. However the main problem seems to be Cell C's service/support or lack thereof.

Calling their head office in Sandton only leads them to transferring you to a call centre (and that's not a free call if you end up at CC via that route). I', getting to the point where I'm becoming very stubborn, I wasted around 80 minutes in one day calling them.

It probably passed water damage check.
@SuperNew. It is possible that main board is faulty, as these days charging circuit is intergrated in the main processor chip. I am not talking about warranty issues, just technical explanation.

Good point, as long as they prove to me w/out reasonable doubt because I also have mine own evidence that the thing was working. I found that the problem with being just a random customer is that I don't have much of a voice. They easily shut me off by either transferring me to someone else or telling me something to dismiss me.

Does anyone think that going to Sandton ('HQ')would help me? I've tried Cell_C with a PM, so I'll wait till he/she responds during the week.

 

[Cell_C]

Thing is, the contrac is good value, and considering that they include mid-range Androids, it's okay. However the main problem seems to be Cell C's service/support or lack thereof.

Calling their head office in Sandton only leads them to transferring you to a call centre (and that's not a free call if you end up at CC via that route). I', getting to the point where I'm becoming very stubborn, I wasted around 80 minutes in one day calling them.



Good point, as long as they prove to me w/out reasonable doubt because I also have mine own evidence that the thing was working. I found that the problem with being just a random customer is that I don't have much of a voice. They easily shut me off by either transferring me to someone else or telling me something to dismiss me.

Does anyone think that going to Sandton ('HQ')would help me? I've tried Cell_C with a PM, so I'll wait till he/she responds during the week.

Hi SuperNev

Got your PM and have replied.
Waiting for response from manager in repair's.
Just need to find out what they say.

Regards
Armando

 

[Willie Trombone]

Keep us posted... am eagerly awaiting the outcome. Hoping it comes before my contract expires.

 

[bboy]

wow this crap, i was gonna move to cell C next month, guess i'll be going to mtn then.

 

[Cell_C]

HI SuperNev

So we will be changing the board for you.
Have emailed you.

REgards
~AM~

 

[Sl8er]

I wish someone would change my board too

 

[Willie Trombone]

HI SuperNev

So we will be changing the board for you.
Have emailed you.

REgards
~AM~

Good to hear... Cell_C can you tell us what the feedback from the tech department was though? And why he had to go through all this to get it changed? Is this a response to bad publicity or was a genuine mistake made?

 

[Cell_C]

HI MyDogHasNoNose

It was a genuine mistake.
That is been rectified as we speak.
I did contact SuperNev and informed him.

Regards
~AM~

 

[SuperNev]

Hi SuperNev

Got your PM and have replied.
Waiting for response from manager in repair's.
Just need to find out what they say.

Regards
Armando

Hi everyone, sorry for not being able to update on the outcome.
As Armando says, he contacted me on Monday, and again on Tuesday. Cell C have agreed to honour warranty and replace my board.
I don't know how long the whole process will take, but Cell_C did mention that he requested that they treat it with high priority as it's been long now.

I'll update again after I get the thing back from repairs.

Again, thanks Armando. I think you should be the new CEO

 

[Willie Trombone]

Agree - people like Armando that make this world a nicer place. Glad it was worth your while posting here.

 

[bavmorda]

Happened the same with my second RBM HD (replaced by CellC after few months of horror) unit. Worked for a month, then just stopped charging. Took CellC twice and a month to repair it, but eventually they did. First time the technician blamed the USB cable saying that with his cable worked. Blatant liar. At least it was free of charge. Personally i'm cursing the day I've decided to move to CellC and can not wait to get rid of them. Two years looks like eternity with that company. After 9 years on VC and not a single problem, with CellC there are glitches every single day. Agree Cell_C (Armando) looks like the only person that tries to make a difference. Unfortunately the problems are too many and he is alone!. BTW still waiting for him to come back to me with a solution regarding roaming on VC network and no Internet.

 

[Cell_C]

Happened the same with my second RBM HD (replaced by CellC after few months of horror) unit. Worked for a month, then just stopped charging. Took CellC twice and a month to repair it, but eventually they did. First time the technician blamed the USB cable saying that with his cable worked. Blatant liar. At least it was free of charge. Personally i'm cursing the day I've decided to move to CellC and can not wait to get rid of them. Two years looks like eternity with that company. After 9 years on VC and not a single problem, with CellC there are glitches every single day. Agree Cell_C (Armando) looks like the only person that tries to make a difference. Unfortunately the problems are too many and he is alone!. BTW still waiting for him to come back to me with a solution regarding roaming on VC network and no Internet.

Hi bavmorda

You not Forgotten, awaiting a response from Networks.

Regards
~AM~

 

[Sl8er]

Wow. Read post # 493

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/273674-Official-NOKIA-N8-thread?p=7324859#post7324859

This guy doesn't even have a "life proof" phone, but after having dropped it, Nokia is more than willing to fix it. RBM and Motorola can take a page out of Nokia's book.
THIS just ticks me off more.
Totally disgusted now.

 

[SuperNev]

I got another call from someone at Cell C,, she was saying that they've decided to give me a new phone to replace the other one. It's not really ideal cos it made me think that maybe the RBM might have defects, and I might end up having a phone that's not working in a while. Alas I'm still happy cos that means I should hopefully get the phone this weekend as the lady said that it's been couriered to the store already.